Cleaning wipes have long been used for a variety of purposes. Such cleaning wipes have contained various compounds to accomplish their intended purpose. For example, cleaning wipes have included inverse emulsions (i.e. water-in-liquid) to clean infants. Cleaning wipes have also included waxes to polish and clean furniture. Cleaning wipes have further included soaps and detergents to clean an individual's hands, counter tops, floors, and the like. Cleaning wipes have also included ammonia to clean glass surfaces. Alcohol and various other biocides have been included on cleaning wipes to disinfect a variety of surfaces.
One type of biocide that has been used in cleaning wipes is quaternary ammonium salts commonly referred to as quats. Liquid cleaners applied to cleaning wipes typically include relatively large amounts of quat. It has been observed that only about 50% of the quat on a cleaning wipe is released from the wipe when the wipe is applied to a surface. As a result, added quat is included in the liquid cleaner to ensure that the desired amount of quat transfers to the cleaned surface. Although quats are excellent biocides, quats can cause skin irritation when used in too high of concentrations. Furthermore, liquid cleaners having a high quat content are subject to various local, state and/or federal regulations due to the toxicity of the quat in high concentrations. In addition to the regulatory and skin irritation concerns associated with quats, quats are typically the highest cost component of the cleaner, thus larger quat concentrations translate into higher product costs.
There have been various attempts to develop liquid cleaners having improved quat release from the cleaning wipes. Some cleaning formulations use a high weight percentage of isopropyl alcohol to promote quat release from the cleaning wipe. It has been observed that isopropyl alcohol in amounts of over about 12% can improve the quat release from the wipe. The use of isopropyl alcohol is also beneficial in that the alcohol has its own antimicrobial properties and cost substantially less than quats. Although the use of isopropyl alcohol in the cleaning formulation improves quat release from the wipe, a substantial amount of quat still remains on the cleaning wipe after use. In addition, local, state and/or federal governments have begun to promulgate regulations on the amount of isopropyl alcohol that can be used in cleaners. Indeed, in California, regulations have been proposed to regulate the use of cleaners containing over 4-5 weight percent isopropyl alcohol. As a result, cleaners having high concentrations of isopropyl alcohol may be less preferred.
The present inventors have also attempted to use different types of biocides to over come the problems associated to quat release. One such biocide has been biguanide compounds. These biguanide compounds have been used in combination with quats and as a substitute for the quats. These trials have revealed that similar problems occur when biguanide compounds are used alone or in combination with quats. The biguanide or biguanide-quat tends to be retained on the wipe thus requiring higher concentrations of the biocide in the cleaning formulation to ensure that a sufficient amount of biocide is transferred to a surface to be cleaned.
In view of the present state of the art of cleaning wipes containing quats and/or biguanides, there is a demand for a quat and/or biguanide containing cleaner that can be applied to and/or used with an absorbent/adsorbent material, and which is formulated to have improved quat and/or biguanide release without having to incorporate high weight percentages of isopropyl alcohol or any other type of alcohol to promote such release.